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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: press · kid · bulb · degree · kick · cap

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. press — a publisher
  3. degree — an amount
  4. kick — in football
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. press — to push
  9. press — newspapers
  10. kid — child
  11. bulb — for light
  12. bulb — for light
  13. cap — a lid
  14. cap — of ice
  15. degree — temperature
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. cap — a hat
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com